The holiday season means many things to many people, but not too many people will disagree that it’s a great time to put a smile on a child’s face.
Lobo Coach Jill Trujillo and her New Mexico women’s golf team decided to do exactly that when they teamed up on a holiday drive with New Mexico Sports Inc’s Kids First program. The Lobos’ mission was to help gather gifts for underprivileged children in the Albuquerque area.
Trujillo’s Lobos hit up the various athletic teams at the University of New Mexico for an assortment of athletic items to throw into the huge pile of gifts.
“Our team is very aware of the needs of our New Mexico community,” said Trujillo. “Kids First is an outstanding organization which supports children’s holiday wishes. Our players were more than happy to contribute and help make this holiday a little more special for some of the children in our community.”
The mission of Kids First is to eliminate obstacles that prevent underprivileged children from participating in athletics. Often the biggest hurdle is financial – or simply not having the necessary equipment. Kids First provides the athletic clothes, shoes and equipment and also offers the activities at no cost.
Susan Craig, the executive director of New Mexico Sports Inc., said the Kids First gift drive benefits the homeless children who are under the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) Title 1 Homeless project. The Title 1 staff selects the children for the Kids First drive and both the children and the gift-givers remain anonymous.
“Our primary goal is to give kids a chance to participate in sports,” said Craig, a former head softball coach at UNM. “Jill came out to speak at our fund-raising golf tournament and she was excited to get her Lobo golfers involved in collecting gifts from the various Lobo teams.
“We gave gifts to about 302 kids this season. The kids were asked to put together a wish list and then we went out into the community and tried to fill those lists. We tried to give a specific gift to a kid who asked for that item. We got more than 650 donations and every child got at least two gifts.
“It was an incredible drive.”
The gifts were handed out at various locations. Coach Trujillo and her assistant, Britney Choy, went to Hawthorne Elementary last week to participate in the gift giving and to interact with some of the children in the program.
There wasn’t enough room to hit golf balls, but Coach Trujillo did get out and kick a soccer ball around and play some hoops.
“The kids opened their gifts and we played with them for maybe half an hour,” said Trujillo. “They had a full afternoon of activities. I played basketball with one boy and it wasn’t so bad because I actually was taller than him. (Trujillo is 5-foot tall) I think he’s about eight. Then I kicked around a soccer ball with a little girl.
“It was really a wonderful experience. This time of the year you can’t put a label on a kid. It doesn’t matter if they are poor or rich or needy or not. They just want to get out there and laugh and play.”